Bouncing rhythmically up and down on trampolines stimulates every muscle and cell in the body. There’s also a lot of evidence showing that regular trampolining contributes significantly to stronger, healthier bones. Continue reading to find out why.
Bone density has a significant impact on the health of our bones
The skeleton gives us support and, together with our muscles, enables our movement. At birth, our skeleton is composed of 308 bones, some of which then gradually grow together to form around 207 in adulthood. The strength of our bones depends on their density. The greater the density, the stronger the bones.
Bone density is the highest in young adults, and then slowly decreases with age. A decline in bone density is especially common among menopausal women. The most serious effect of declining bone density is frequent fractures in old age.
However, few people in their 20s think about the health of their bones when they’ll be 50 and older. But there’s a wide range of preventive measures we can use to improve the health of our bones, and trampolining is one of them.
How can trampolining help our bones?
Various research shows that regular rebounding helps increase bone density and hence maintain bone mass. Just like muscles can become stronger through activation, bones can also grow stronger under certain forms of strain or stress. In this case, rebounding is the most effective stressor because it stimulates the growth of new bone cells, which makes the bones denser and stronger.
When you jump on a trampoline, your body defies the gravitational force, but at the same time, it still produces enough force to stimulate the growth of new bone cells. Trampolining is highly recommended because the forces created while jumping are significantly smaller than, for instance, when performing various jumps on hard surfaces, and so the risk of injury is significantly lower.
Notable positive effects of trampolining have been observed among:
- Astronauts: That trampolining is good for our bones is also supported by the fact that this exercise is regularly performed by astronauts. They can lose up to 15% of their bone mass in just 14 days in space, and so rebounding is one of NASA's main strategies to help rebuild bones and reverse osteoporosis in astronauts.
- The elderly: Impaired functions and the loss of muscle mass and balance in old age are the most common causes of frequent falls, which often lead to fractures. The elderly are thus advised to engage in various forms of preventive workouts, including exercises to improve balance, coordination, and bone density. Trampolining proved to be an effective way of preventing osteoporosis in old age.
How much trampolining is enough to maintain healthy bones?
Bearing all this in mind, you’re probably wondering how much trampolining is enough to maintain healthy bones in old age. A study conducted on a sample of women with an average age of 70 showed that improvements after a 12-week trampolining training program were significantly smaller compared to those found in studies conducted among younger women. The main reason for this is that training intensity decreases with age due to a higher risk of injury, so more time is required to achieve the same results.
WHO's latest recommendations are that even children and adolescents should perform muscle and bone-strengthening exercises at least three times a week, in addition to regular physical activity. As established above, trampolining is very effective in maintaining healthy bones and so it is an ideal activity for this age group because children never get tired of it.
But it is, first and foremost, vital that we start taking care of our bones early enough to ensure they remain healthy in old age. Everything we do for our health today is a great investment in our future.
